Home > Last American Woman to Win the Boston Marathon Wants to Lose that Distinction

When Meb Keflezighi[1] won the Boston Marathon[2] last April, he relieved Greg[3] Meyer, the 1983 champion, of the tagline “the last American men’s winner at Boston.”

That left Lisa Rainsberger[4] in sole possession of the how-long-has-it-been descriptor. Competing as Lisa Larsen Weidenbach, she won Boston in 1985; no American woman has won since.

Rainsberger will return to Boston this year to celebrate the 30th anniversary of her win, promote a book she has written, Thirty: Story of a Champion,[5] and run the BAA 5K on the Saturday of marathon weekend. She answered the following questions from Colorado Springs, Colorado, where she and her family have lived for many years.

Has it been a burden to be the last American winner?Lisa Rainsberger: It’s been a burden in the sense that I have such pride in being an American and supporting American runners, so of course I want the home team to win. It’s like rooting for the Boston Red Sox. But I prefer to think of it as a drought, and I’m hoping it rains really hard at Boston this year.

Desi [Linden][6] came so close a couple of years ago, and Shalane [Flanagan][7] gave 110 percent last year. I don’t think she used the best strategy to go for the win, and I think she learned a lot last year that will help her this year. I’m hoping this will be her year. Plus, I think some of the recent drug scandals have leveled the playing field more, and that could help her.

You’ve long spoken about drugs in distance running. Are you thinking about it more now, and saying more?LR: Yes. Absolutely. It’s time for me to use my voice, and I’ll tell you why. My daughter Katie is a high school junior and developing runner, and I don’t want her to have to go to the start line, and think that the runner with the best pharmacist is going to win the race. When you talk about doping, some people are always going to accuse you of being a surly Shirley Babashoff[8] [an American Olympic swimmer who was criticized in 1976 for alleging since-proven systematic doping by East Germans]. But I think we’ve seen enough now that we can say, “I told you so. There is a problem out there.”

In my racing career I mostly kept my mouth closed, but I knew some of my competitors were cheating. I had the coach of an Olympic champion come up to me and offer to help me do the same doping that his athletes were doing. Now that Katie’s competing at a high level, I want to do whatever I can to stop drug cheats.

Can you tell us a little more about Katie[9]?LR: In the last several months, she has run the Pan American Cross Country Championships in Colombia, and the World Cross Country in China. She was fifth in the Pan Ams, and 55th in China, where only one other runner was younger than her. She’s been a soccer, cross country, and track athlete, but now she is dropping soccer for the first time to focus on her running. On the track, she’s run 4:39 for the mile, and 2:05 for 800. She’s got a lot more leg speed than I ever had, and we want to keep her focused on the short stuff so she can improve her speed.

What do you remember of your Boston win in 1985?LR: It was a very hot day. It was the day that Geoff Smith cramped on Heartbreak Hill and had to stop, but held on for the win. It was one of the years when the Boston Marathon was having all those political and legal issues. It was the last year when there was no prize money.The next year, the winners got $60,000 and a Mercedes Benz.

I was actually the pre-race favorite, since few wanted to run that year. It was important to me because I was living in Marblehead, Massachusetts, at the time, and I’ve always thought you should support the local races. And I figured Boston was, well, the ultimate legacy race. Plus, I had a contract with Saucony that gave me a nice bonus for the win.

I remember that [current race director] Dave McGillivray was supposed to run with me using this mini tape recorder so he could do reports from the road. He only lasted eight miles with me. It was that hot. Ever since, I’ve kidded him that he failed his first job at the Boston Marathon.

You’re also well known for your three straight fourth-place finishes in the Olympic Marathon Trials[10] (1984, 1988, 1992)—basically the worst position. Was that difficult for you?LR: I had to lay that to rest a long time ago, but it came up in a funny way a couple of months ago. That’s when Katie got this big box full of gear from USATF for her Pan Am and World teams. We had a great time opening the box together, and looking at all the great stuff. And she got a little sassy with me, like, “Hey, look what I got that you never did.”

And I have to admit, it brought back a hollow feeling in my gut—that I never had the chance to wear the U.S.A. uniform in an international competition. That would have been really meaningful to me. But at least Katie and I had the chance to talk about it.

Are you still coaching?LR: Yes, but I’ve transitioned to mainly working with youth. It’s great. I think I’ve found my passion. I do camps and events, and put together training programs for middle-school and high-school students. The program is called Kokopelli Kids[11].